Rumor: Xbox Bringing Original and Xbox 360 Games To PC Via Emulation, It’s Claimed

Why would they do that when the whole point is to sell new games.

because they don't have the luxury of being in good standing with customers.
they have to go up and beyond expectations to win back the good will of their fans and general public.

why would anyone give a flying fuck about the same shitty backwards compatibility they currently do, when on a PC I can download Xenia and Xemu that support more games?
Offering a worse solution on an open platform means it's a completely useless endeavour
 
Last edited:
why would anyone give a flying fuck about the same shitty backwards compatibility they currently do, when on a PC I can download Xenia and Xemu that support more games?
Offering a worse solution on an open platform means it's a completely useless endeavour

Because that's piracy?
 
Because that's piracy?

it's not? I have a modded Xbox where I can simply send my disc games over to my PC.
and there are DVD drives you can firmware flash to read Xbox discs.

but even so... do you think anyone cares that it's piracy?
GorYvxYWs4tHHSx3.jpg



there are 63 og Xbox games backwards compatible currently...
now let's take a look at the compatibility graph of XEMU:
np2BrmsrqZyFNg1M.jpg


85% of all og Xbox games are playable. that's more than 800 games... vs 63.

if Piracy wins, it's Microsoft's fault 🤷

Microsoft could sell a disc drive with firmware that lets it read og Xbox and 360 discs, and make their system fully backwards compatible. if they don't do it, Xemu and Xenia will make their efforts meaningless
 
Last edited:
I think you are just trying to justify pirating, and are complaining that MS isn't encouraging piracy.

damn... you must be denser than the core of the sun then.

Me wanting them to offer a way to play official Xbox and Xbox 360 discs means I want to justify piracy? sure... that makes total sense.
 
All these emulators are open source. I always wondered why platform holders never bothered using them. PCSX2 for instance is light years better than the native ports on PSN. Even on Steam Deck you can run games at 3x resolution and full speed in every game Ive tried.
I'm guessing its because the open source license usually forbids using the code for commercial purposes.

MS and Sony probably couldn't make any money selling games with it
 
I feel like part of this is to show that Microsoft is the safest place to preserve your digital library, past, present and future. I don't think its as much about selling XBox consoles anymore because the 'Everything is an Xbox' strategy is very clearly saying as long as you're in their ecosystem, they don't care where you access it. Whatever the next Xbox is won't be a system they expect to sell 50m units, they had their ducks in a row better this gen than last and the Series model is trailing behind Xbox One. Speaking personally I don't have an Xbox console anymore, but I do have a digital library of OG Xbox/360 games that I'd love to play on my PC devices. That would also keep me putting money into their ecosystem because I've pretty much stopped spending money in the XBox store.

Yeah, so my point is that I don't think people inherently care about the preservation of their games. We've had numerous systems go on to do crazy numbers without having any level of BC.

Namely the PS4 and Switch, both of which are in the top 5 all time. Even the DS, while being able to play GBA games couldn't play original GB games. Also in the top 5.

They don't need to sell you on future hardware, but they do need to sell people on the ecosystem and that's a tall order against steam right now.
 
If this actually happens (it probably won't, but let's assume it does), that would be the final piece of game preservation on PC.
 
The intent would seem to be about preserving digital libraries going forward. Not about putting your old Xbox game discs into your pc. That's kinda obvious, no?
 
As per a reddit comment over at r/GamingLeaksAndRumours: "Debunked as fake over on the official Xenia discord by the moderators."
I could see MS pursuing this, but the idea that they would need to work with Xenia is silly. The work is already done.
 
Last edited:
Why/How? Series doesn't support reading DVDs.
Series X consoles plays DVD movies, and plays audio CDs without issues. PS5 only plays DVDs, it doesn't support CDs at all.

For supported games you put the DVD in the drive and it works as key and it will download the game and let you play. It worked the exact same way on One consoles.
 
Yeah, so my point is that I don't think people inherently care about the preservation of their games. We've had numerous systems go on to do crazy numbers without having any level of BC.

Namely the PS4 and Switch, both of which are in the top 5 all time. Even the DS, while being able to play GBA games couldn't play original GB games. Also in the top 5.

They don't need to sell you on future hardware, but they do need to sell people on the ecosystem and that's a tall order against steam right now.
The PS4/XB1/Switch era was more deeply entrenched into the digital gaming landscape coming off PS3 and Wii U though. There's a general understanding now that people expect their libraries to carry forward. PS5 and Switch 2 would have had massive push-back if they weren't BC. Hell, one of the main talking points for Switch 2 leading up to its launch was whether it had BC. I mean if these companies want to push us into a digital future, it's incumbent on them to provide solutions for library preservation. Who wants to dump thousands upon thousands into ecosystems which may be stuck on legacy hardware? That's why people feel much more comfortable buying digital on Steam, any capable PC device can access your library. Which yes as you say, competing in the PC ecosystem space with Steam is gonna be an uphill battle.
 
Last edited:
The PS4/XB1/Switch era was more deeply entrenched into the digital gaming landscape coming off PS3 and Wii U though. There's a general understanding now that people expect their libraries to carry forward. PS5 and Switch 2 would have had massive push-back if they weren't BC. Hell, one of the main talking points for Switch 2 leading up to its launch was whether it had BC. I mean if these companies want to push us into a digital future, it's incumbent on them to provide solutions for library preservation. Who wants to dump thousands upon thousands into ecosystems which may be stuck on legacy hardware? That's why people feel much more comfortable buying digital on Steam, any capable PC device can access your library. Which yes as you say, competing in the PC ecosystem space with Steam is gonna be an uphill battle.

I guarantee you the data doesn't actually support that.

There's no fundamental logic as to why a digital library would have some additional expectation of library preservation any more than the dawn of optical discs.

The rise of Live Service games also deflates the value of a digital library.

The biggest games on PC aren't even on Steam... Steam is successful because it makes things convenient, less so because it keeps your old library preserved.

Look at the concurrent players for very old games that aren't live service, they aren't high at all. This is a narrative that core gamers tell the gaming industry and the industry abides, not because of hard data but because they keep hearing it they think the data must be wrong, but notice how Sony hasn't dropped everything and added PS3 BC or PSP or Vita. Hell they could add a total PS1-PS2 emulation layer. Mark Cerny is way more likely to follow the data than anyone else in the business.

Don't get me wrong. I love BC conceptually too even more so with enhanced games, but we're absolutely in the minority, it's just a vocal one.
 
These Xbox and 360 titles were already emulated on Xbox One and Series consoles, so the licensing issues were already sorted.
 
That would be really good! Imagine they push Sony to enable their emulators for general use with PS1 and PS2 discs on their consoles, one could dream.
 
I guarantee you the data doesn't actually support that.

There's no fundamental logic as to why a digital library would have some additional expectation of library preservation any more than the dawn of optical discs.

The rise of Live Service games also deflates the value of a digital library.

The biggest games on PC aren't even on Steam... Steam is successful because it makes things convenient, less so because it keeps your old library preserved.

Look at the concurrent players for very old games that aren't live service, they aren't high at all. This is a narrative that core gamers tell the gaming industry and the industry abides, not because of hard data but because they keep hearing it they think the data must be wrong, but notice how Sony hasn't dropped everything and added PS3 BC or PSP or Vita. Hell they could add a total PS1-PS2 emulation layer. Mark Cerny is way more likely to follow the data than anyone else in the business.

Don't get me wrong. I love BC conceptually too even more so with enhanced games, but we're absolutely in the minority, it's just a vocal one.
We're like a decade into consoles being digital-centric and the data says digital has eclipsed physical. As more and more people buy digital , they're not going to just hand-wave their purchases being locked to older platforms as the years pass. Even if we're in the minority now I doubt that remains static the further along we go. The main reason I think Sony hasn't pushed their older legacy titles further is because XBox hasn't been competition since the 360 ( and in that gen, PS3 has both PS1 and PS2 BC depending on which model). If Microsoft was pushing Playstation further, I feel like Sony would at least have given a better effort on the BC front. As of now there's no competitive reason to because they are the default platform in the ( higher end) console space. To what degree it would 'matter' as far as which gamers genuinely care about it isn't really the point, but if they were actually being pushed in the console space they're not going to let someone have a bullet point feature over them, even if in the grand scheme only the minority care about it.

Why wouldn't there a fundamental logic of expecting your digital library to carry across? Physical media can always be sold off to reclaim back some of the money spent on it. Digital is intangible data and it's locked to an account. You damn right I'm going to want to access it on my next PlayStation purchase. People have been building digital ecosystems on numerous media platforms for years now. I'm reasonably certain that unless the hardware fundamentally shifts to a different architecture and format ( like Wii U to Switch), more consumers moving forward will expect reasonable efforts that the latest hardware will preserve their digital purchases. Nintendo didn't make Switch 2 BC to be nice, they want to remove any barriers or hesitations to buying digital, and they won't achieve that if they do the Reggie 'please understand' meme and lock you out of your legacy content on the new system.

In any event, my main point earlier was that Xbox is moving away from consoles so I think their strategy going forward is going to be 'this is the best place to build a digital ecosystem' across a plethora of devices. I didn't say it will work in terms of how they compete with Steam, I'm just saying that's where they're going.
 
Last edited:
There's a lot of games, and reaching player bases is a job alone, all of a sudden Microsoft is the best manufacturer on the world, 360 RROD they were on the brink of collapse, I think one brought stability and series x is delivering success
 
We're like a decade into consoles being digital-centric and the data says digital has eclipsed physical. As more and more people buy digital , they're not going to just hand-wave their purchases being locked to older platforms as the years pass. Even if we're in the minority now I doubt that remains static the further along we go. The main reason I think Sony hasn't pushed their older legacy titles further is because XBox hasn't been competition since the 360 ( and in that gen, PS3 has both PS1 and PS2 BC depending on which model). If Microsoft was pushing Playstation further, I feel like Sony would at least have given a better effort on the BC front. As of now there's no competitive reason to because they are the default platform in the ( higher end) console space. To what degree it would 'matter' as far as which gamers genuinely care about it isn't really the point, but if they were actually being pushed in the console space they're not going to let someone have a bullet point feature over them, even if in the grand scheme only the minority care about it.

Why wouldn't there a fundamental logic of expecting your digital library to carry across? Physical media can always be sold off to reclaim back some of the money spent on it. Digital is intangible data and it's locked to an account. You damn right I'm going to want to access it on my next PlayStation purchase. People have been building digital ecosystems on numerous media platforms for years now. I'm reasonably certain that unless the hardware fundamentally shifts to a different architecture and format ( like Wii U to Switch), more consumers moving forward will expect reasonable efforts that the latest hardware will preserve their digital purchases. Nintendo didn't make Switch 2 BC to be nice, they want to remove any barriers or hesitations to buying digital, and they won't achieve that if they do the Reggie 'please understand' meme and lock you out of your legacy content on the new system.

In any event, my main point earlier was that Xbox is moving away from consoles so I think their strategy going forward is going to be 'this is the best place to build a digital ecosystem' across a plethora of devices. I didn't say it will work in terms of how they compete with Steam, I'm just saying that's where they're going.

Yeah, and my point is that if this is a key element of their strategy, it suggests that they have very little to work with.

The cost associated with this and the resources associated with this... the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

That would be really good! Imagine they push Sony to enable their emulators for general use with PS1 and PS2 discs on their consoles, one could dream.


Just like they forced Sony to copy GamePass and Day 1 games?
 
Last edited:
Yeah, and my point is that if this is a key element of their strategy, it suggests that they have very little to work with.

The cost associated with this and the resources associated with this... the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
I wasn't really contesting otherwise. We'll have to see how it works out. I don't think they have many plays left in the book, so we're not really in disagreement on that.
 
Last edited:
Although I'd believed this was possibly previously, speaking from a tech perspective, I believe there are actually legal reasons this is simply not possible. They might get around it with xCloud, but that's not really the same thing this article is about.
 
Why?

Why would I want to play games with shit resolutions, textures and framerates. PS360 era was the nadir of gaming on a technical level, IMO.

Unless the emulation offers all the extras of unofficial emulation like resolution upscaling and texture mods I dont see the point, TBH.
 
it's all down to their refusal to make a universal emulator that just reads unmodified discs and emulates it on the spot.
they still do this bullshit where you have to download a modified version.
Isn't the backwards compatibility program basically digital only ports of old games that can be dowloaded if you put your original disc ? Which is insane as Microsoft did for free what publishers charge players for usually.
 
All these emulators are open source. I always wondered why platform holders never bothered using them. PCSX2 for instance is light years better than the native ports on PSN. Even on Steam Deck you can run games at 3x resolution and full speed in every game Ive tried.
remember playstation classic? it do use an open source emulator solution
 
"Official" emulation will always be heavily flawed. Look at the current state of backwards compatibility for Series consoles - there's a ton of games missing or some of the earlier digital releases at some point were removed from the store for licensing reasons. I can't imagine a scenario in which MS will allow 99% of OG Xbox & 360 games to appear on their emulator... and even if that happens how are you supposed to play them without a drive and with the 360 store officially closed down? Unless you bought the digital versions years back you're screwed.
 
it's not? I have a modded Xbox where I can simply send my disc games over to my PC.
and there are DVD drives you can firmware flash to read Xbox discs.

but even so... do you think anyone cares that it's piracy?
GorYvxYWs4tHHSx3.jpg



there are 63 og Xbox games backwards compatible currently...
now let's take a look at the compatibility graph of XEMU:
np2BrmsrqZyFNg1M.jpg


85% of all og Xbox games are playable. that's more than 800 games... vs 63.

if Piracy wins, it's Microsoft's fault 🤷

Microsoft could sell a disc drive with firmware that lets it read og Xbox and 360 discs, and make their system fully backwards compatible. if they don't do it, Xemu and Xenia will make their efforts meaningless
Holy shit! Is Xemu that good? It's the only one I've never looked into

I feel some Brute force coming on all of a sudden :unsure:
 
I think fake but came from a kernal of truth? If MS is providing custom chips for the specific purpose of both being a PC and playing Xbox games on the same hardware then they did a lot of work in the Xbox-Windows cross-pollination scheme that could result in stories like this.

If they were legally allowed to perform this emulation then the special APU would not be necessary and they could skip that entire non-profit ordeal completely? Unless they just have two completely different schemes for console and PC which seems inconsistent lol...why make a PC-console AND a console-PC? I mean anything can happen but I think it's more likely this is fake and we get special APU only for legal reasons.
 
Xenia team denies working with Microsoft.

Turns out Extas1s is wrong... again. Can we just add them to a blacklist now?



 
Top Bottom